Scraper for removing coal dust and other materials from coal mine floors



March 7, 1961 F. J. DOYLE 2,973,5 6

SCRAPER FOR REMOVING COAL DUST AND OTHER MATERIALS FROM COAL MINE FLOORS Filed Feb. 5, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 1 Q i g l 1 I i I I j I I O INVENTOR. 1 Frank J Doyle wlwiw A 'H'arneys March 7, F. J. DOYLE SCRAPER FOR REMOVING COAL DUST AND OTHER MATERIALS FROM COAL MINE FLOORS Filed Feb. 5, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. Fran k I Doyle W/MJ W Afforneys SCRAPER FOR REMOVING COAL DUST AND OTHER MATERIALS FROM COAL MINE FLQORS Frank 3. Doyle, Equipment Service Company, 617 N. 9th St, Birmingham, Ala.

Filed Feb. 5, 19 59, Ser. No. 791,293

3 Claims. or. -93

This invention relates to a scraper for removing from coal mine floors coal and waste dust, together with other materials and more particularly to such a scraper which shall be adapted for attachment to a coal mine shuttle car.

It is well known in the coal mining industry that coal dust in mine shafts is one of the primary causes of explosions therein. To minimize this cause of explosion, it has been common to spread limestone dust on the coal mine floors so that the composite mixture of limestone dust and coal dust on the coal mine floors is from 65% to 85% limestone dust, depending upon the amount of methane present and other factors. Because of the relatively large amount of coal dust found in most coal mines, a large amount of limestone dust as well as labor is required to mix the limestone dust with the coal dust.

It is an object of the present invention to provide apparatus which scrapes and pushes a very large percentage of the coal dust and other materials on the mine floor into piles whereby the piles may be easily removed by suitable apparatus, such as a coal loader, thereby reducing the coal dust on the mine floor to a minimum which necessitates the use of only a relatively small amount of limestone dust on the mine floor to supply the required ratio of limestone dust to coal dust.

It is a further object of my invention to provide a scraper attached to the forward end of a shuttle car and having a rear blade disposed adjacent the forward end of the shuttle car transversely of the direction of travel, with a side or wing blade on each end of the transverse blade extending forwardly and outwardly therefrom whereby coal dust and other materials are scraped by and guided between the side blades to the transverse blade by which it is pushed along with the materials scraped by the transverse blade to form a pile.

A still further object of my invention is to provide a scraper unit of the character designated which may be readily attached to or detached from conventional type shuttle cars.

My invention comprises a scraper attached to the forward end of a shuttle car and having a transverse rear blade disposed adjacent the forward end of the shuttle car and inclined rearwardly from its lower scraping or Working edge so that coal dust scraped from the mine ,may be supported on the inclined forward surface of the blade as it is being pushed by the shuttle car. A side or wing blade is disposed adjacent each end of the rear blade and extends forwardly thereof. The side bladesv are flared outwardly of diverge from their rear ends so that coal dust may be scraped by the side blades out- .wardly of the extent of the rear transverse blade and a wider sweep of the scraper is thereby obtained. This construction also permits the coal dust and other materials atented Mar. 7, 1

Fig. l and showing the scraper tilted rearwardly in raised non-working position;

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the scraper removed from the shuttle car shown in Figs. 1 and 2;

Fig. 4 is a front elevational view of the scraper shown in Fig. 3; and

Fig. 5 is a side elevational view of the scraper shown in Figs. 3 and 4.

Referring now to the drawings for a better understanding of my invention, I show in Figs. 1 and 2 a shuttle car, indicated generally by the numeral 10, which is commonly used in coal mines, the arrow 11 denoting the forward direction of travel of car 10. A scraper, indicated generally by the numeral 12, is attached to the forward end of shuttle car 10 by a pair of forwardly extending arms 13. Secured to each side of the scraper 12 are outwardly projecting pivot pins 14 whereby the scraper is pivotally mounted to the forward ends of the arms 13, as shown. The scraper 12 is pivotally mounted to the sides of shuttle car 10 by suitable pivot pins 16. A fluid pressure operated cylinder 17 is mounted on each side of shuttle car 16 and has a piston rod 18 pivotally connected to the rear end of each of the arms 13. Shuttle car 10 has a complete hydraulic system so that the cylinders 17 may be actuated by the hydraulic system of shuttle car 19. Thus, the scraper 12 can be raised or lowered through actuation of cylinders 17.

The scraper 12 is shown in raised position in Fig. 2 and is counterbalanced so as to tilt rearwardly when it is raised. An extension or stop member 19 is provided adjacent the upper rear end of scraper 12 and extends outwardly from scraper 12 over the arms 13. Thus, when the scraper 12 is raised from engagement with the mine floor, the rear end of the scraper tilts downwardly under its unbalanced weight until extensions 19 contact arms 13 thereby acting to prevent further tilting of the scraper 12.

Referring now to Figs. 3, 4 and 5, in which the scraper 12 is shown detached from the shuttle car 10, a rear transverse blade 21 is provided adjacent the rear end of scraper 12 and is disposed adjacent the forward end of the shuttle car transversely of the direction of travel thereof. A scraper bar 22 having a lower or working edge 23 is secured to the lower side of blade 21 and extends approximately one inch below the lower edge of blade 21 so as to engage and scrape coal dust and other materials from the floor of a mine.

A side or wing blade 24 is secured to each end of rear blade 21 and extends forwardly therefrom. A scraper bar 26 having aworking edge 27 is secured to each of the blades 24 and extends about one inch below the lower edge of blade 24 as does scraper 22 on blade 21 thus to engage and scrape coal dust and other materials from the mine floor. A brace 28 extends between the side blades 24 and is secured thereto to hold and supportblades 24 in proper position. The leading edges of the blades 24 are curved or arcuate in shape adjacent the bottom portion thereof as at 31 so that it may slide easily along a mine floor. Also, the tops of the leading edges are curved, as shown, to prevent damage to brattice doors amount of dust goes under the working edge 23 of scraper bar 22.

Side blades 24- diverge or flare outwardly from the ends of rear blade 21. The side blades 24 are tilted outwardly, as shown in Fig. 4, from the lower working edge 27 to form with a generally vertical plane perpendicular to the mine floor an included angle b which is from approximately 10 to 20. The outward tilting of blades 24 allows the coal dust and other materials scraped by the edges 27 to ride upwardly on the inner surface of the blades 24 and to be guided rearwardly thereby to the rear blade 21 by which it is pushed to a suitable position or pile where it is removed from the mine by suitable means. A relatively wide sweep which extends between the outer ends of blades 24 is obtained as side blades 24 diverge from rear blade 21 and a scraping action is obtained the full distance between the forward ends of side blades 24.

The force exerted by the forward movement of the scraper 12 in combination with the force exerted by the weight of the coal dust and other materials on the rearwardly sloping rear blade 21 forces the scraper into intimate contact with the mine floor thereby forming a seal between the scraper 12 and the mine floor to assure that a minimum amount of coal dust passes beneath the scraper as it moves forward.

From the foregoing, it will be understood that I have provided an improved scraper attached to the forward end of a shuttle car which is adapted for pivotal movement in a generally vertical direction relative to the shuttle car. The scraper scrapes coal dust and other materials from mine floors and conveys it to a suitable pile where it may be removed by a suitable apparatus. The side blades 24 diverge from the rear blade and are used as scrapers to increase the sweep of my scraper. Thus, in addition to guiding the material onto the rear blade 21, the side blades 24 scrape coal dust and other materials outwardly from the ends of the rear blade 21. blades 24 are tilted outwardly relative to their lower edges and flare outwardly relative to their rear ends so that the scraping and guiding action of the blades 24 may be utilized to their full advantage. Such a scraper has been found to be highly efficient in removing coal dust from coal mine floors and has thereby minimized a hazard in coal mines that is widely prevalent in coal mines today.

While I have shown my invention in but one form, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that it is not so limited, but is susceptible of various changes and -modi fications without departing from the spirit thereof, and I desire, therefore, that only such limitations be placed thereupon as are specifically set forth in the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. The combination with a coal mine mobile shuttle car of a scraper comprising a transverse rear blade disposed adjacent the forward end of the shuttle car and extending transversely of the direction of travel thereof, said transverse rear blade being inclined rearwardly and upwardly from its lower working edge to define with Side Y the mine floor on which the scraper rests in working relation an included angle of from approximately 25 to 45 and adapted to scrape and push coal dust and other materials along the mine floor, a side blade adjacent each end of said transverse blade and extending forwardly therefrom, a forwardly extending arm pivotally connected at its forward end to the outer side of each side blade intermediate the ends of each side blade whereby each side blade is adapted for pivotal movement relative to its arm, means pivotally mounting each arm adjacent the rear end thereof to a pivot point on the shuttle car whereby upon pivotal movement of each arm relative to said shuttle car the forward end of each arm is raised and lowered to move the scraper vertically relative to the shuttle car, and means to move each arm about said pivot point on the shuttle car to thereby move the scraper vertically relative to the shuttle car, the lower working edges of the side blades being disposed in a common plane with the lower working edge of said transverse rear blade and said side blades diverging from the transverse blade and tilted outwardly relative to the lower working edges thereof to define with a plane perpendicular to the mine floor an included angle of from approximately 10 to 20 whereby coal dust and other materials are scraped by and guided between the side blades toward the transverse rear blade.

2. The combination with a mobile shuttle car of a scraper pivotally connected to the shuttle car for movement in a generally vertical direction relative to the shuttle car, said scraper comprising a transverse rear blade disposed adjacent the forward end of the shuttle car transversely of the direction of travel thereof and rearwardly inclined from its lower working edge and adapted to scrape and push coal dust and other materials along the mine floor, and a side blade adjacent each end of said transverse blade and extending forwardly therefrom, a forwardly extending arm pivotally mounted adjacent its forward end to the outer side of each side blade intermediate the ends of each side blade whereby each side blade is adapted for pivotal movement relative to its arm, means pivotally mounting each arm adjacent the rear end thereof to a pivot point on the shuttle car whereby upon pivotal movement of each arm relative to said shuttle car the forward end of each arm is raised and lowered to move the scraper vertically relative to the shuttle car, and means to move each arm about said pivot point on the shuttle car to thereby move the scraper vertically relative to the shuttle car, the lower working edgm of the side blades being disposed generally in a common plane with the lower working edge of said transverse rear blade and said side blades diverging from the rear blade and tilted outwardly relative to the lower working edges thereof whereby coal dust and other materials are scraped by and guided between the side blade s toward said rear blade.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Greenlee Aug. 8, I911 Clapp Oct. 9, I923 Palmiter Apr. 13, 1954 

